ASTON Villa captain Gareth Barry has backed #8million signing Ashley Young to emerge from the shadow of John Carew and be a major success for the club.

ASTON Villa captain Gareth Barry has backed #8million signing Ashley Young to emerge from the shadow of John Carew and be a major success for the club.

Carew has grabbed the headlines for Villa since his move from Lyon in a swap deal with Milan Baros in January with a string of impressive displays.

In contrast, Young has taken time to bed in since his switch from Watford two months ago despite the ideal start with a goal on debut at Newcastle.

But Barry, currently preparing for England's European Championship in Israel on Saturday, has no doubts that the England Under-21 player will come good.

"Strikers do need goals to boost confidence and John Carew has probably taken the shine off Ashley because he has been superb in every game," said Barry. "He has caused defences problems on a constant basis but Ashley is not doing badly at all.

"Goals do bring confidence and if he does hit the net again, I am sure we will see a lot more from him.

"People should also remember he is still only a young lad, now playing in front of 40,000 fans, and it is sometimes easy to forget that because of the big fee and all the speculation about his move.

"I am confident he will deal with it and a couple of goals and a couple of wins for the team will help Ashley."

Villa midfielder Patrik Berger echoed the sentiments of Barry.

He said: "For a striker, goals always act as a big lift but it will come right for Ashley. He is generally playing well and it has just not been going his way - but it will. He has tremendous potential."